Termite Facts

TERMITE AND PEST CONTROL

You can buy insurance for many sources of home damage, but not for termites.

Termites have been around for more than 240 million years. They adapt to ever changing environments. Termites are nature’s way to break down wood and return it to the soil.

Termites cannot determine the difference between the wood in the forest where your home was built and the wood members of your home.

Termites can infest almost every part of your home.

Termites can enter your home through a crack or opening as thin as a piece of paper.

Termites never stop working and eating. They work 24 hours a day.

Termite colonies can average more than a million termites.

Allied Exterminators provides termite control, termite treatment and termite inspection services for homeowners in Spring, The Woodlands, Conroe, Tomball, Cypress and Houston TX areas. Expert Extermination Since 1956. Call us today to schedule a termite inspection or discuss a prevention plan for your home. You can reach us at 281-353-4427.

MAINTENANCE TIPS TO HELP REDUCE TERMITE INFESTATIONS

If you live in an area where termites are a known problem, we recommend that you have your home inspected for termites once each year and before buying a home, or prior to selling a home.

Avoid wood to ground contact such as wood siding (6 inches minimum clearance between wood siding and the soil).

Wood decking built on the soil surface or wood members in contact with the soil should be treated.

Excessive moisture under or adjacent to the structure. A/C condensate drain line draining next to the foundation or poor surface drainage. A/C condensate drain line should drain at least 5 feet from the foundation. Poor surface drainage should be improved. Use the advice of a professional in this area due to the possibility of causing foundation and or drainage problems.

Heavy foliage growing next to and/or on the structure (vines and shrubs are common problems) should be trimmed back and away from the structure.

Wood pile and planter box adjacent to the structure should be removed.

Wood fence in contact with the structure should have at least 6 inches of clearance or be treated.

Wood used in and over foundation expansion joints should be removed and the joints treated.

Tree branches contacting the structure should be cut back from the structure.

Wood from boards left in place around the foundation should be removed or treated.

TERMITE SWARMERS

You will notice winged termites, called swarmers, after your home has received a thorough termiticide application. This can be a normal occurrence due to the biology of these insects.

Subterranean termitesrequire food and water to survive. These termites feed on wood and plant products, such as paper, particleboard and fabrics. Subterranean termites generally obtain their water from the soil. They live in colonies that can contain many thousands of individual termites.

These colonies are composed of distinct casts or classes, workers, soldiers and reproductives. As their names indicate, each class of termites has unique responsibilities within the colony. Workersmove between your home and soil throughout each day to collect food and water for the colony. Soldiers protect the colony from dangerous intruders, such as ants.Swarmers are winged reproductives which leave the colony to begin new colonies.Allied Exterminators will use a termiticide or bait system to create a protective barrier between your home and the soil.

Termite workers moving between your home and the soil will contact this barrier and die. Thus, workers will be unable to bring water back to the other termites, such as swarmers, which may be in your home. Eventually, all termites in your home will die, either by contact with the treated soil, or by lack of water.

The length of time for this to occur depends upon temperature, humidity, size of the termite colony and other conditions. Should you find termites swarming indoors after the termiticide barrier is applied, do not feel that the treatment was unsuccessful. Swarmers may be leaving the colony due to adverse conditions, such as lack of water and termite mortality, resulting from an effective termiticide treatment.Swarmers may use an existing mud tube, which workers abandoned after proper treatment, to leave the colony. Reproductives may also move through treated soil.Since reproductives move through the soil very quickly, they absorb less insecticide and are thus able to exit treated soil to swarm.

Reproductives will die soon after they leave the soil either naturally or by the insecticide which they contacted as they moved though the soil. Fortunately swarmers are not capable of constructing mud tubes or causing structural damage to wood. They merely indicate the colony is active in the area.

The presence of swarming ants or flying termites does not necessarily indicate that workers are still feeding on wood in the structure nor does it mean that an improper treatment was performed.

In any case a thorough inspection should be performed after the observation of swarmers or winged ants to discover if there are active workers which may have found an untreated gap in the soil barrier. A spot treatment at that location may be needed if active workers are present.

Alternatively, a structural problem may exist which permits termites to avoid contacting the termiticide treated soil.

For example, subterranean termite colonies can survive above ground with no soil contact if a sufficient water source is available within the structure.

Leaking roofs, bathtubs, showers, dishwashers and plumbing can be sources of water for termites.

Keep your pest control professional informed of your situation. With their expertise and your cooperation your valued property will be protected.